More than 2,000 hectares of forest and land in eastern Belgium have been destroyed in a large fire raging in a nature reserve near the border with Germany.
The wind is constantly changing direction so the fire is spreading in all directions, Nathalie Thönnissen, mayor of Baelen, one of the municipalities hardest hit, tells Le Soir.
According to the newspaper, the fire is the largest ever recorded in Belgium, and its size is partly due to firefighters allowing open areas to burn and instead trying to prevent larger forest fires.
To help them, there are, among other things, three helicopters from the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, and Le Soir writes that two Swedish firefighting aircraft are on their way to the scene.
Residents of two villages near the German border have been warned to evacuate, but by Saturday evening only parts of the population, around 600 people, had needed to be evacuated.
Got to return
Across the border, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, a massive fire is raging. More than 1,400 firefighters are battling to bring the blaze under control, forcing nearly 2,000 people to flee their homes in the municipality of Hürtgenwald, just 30 kilometres from the Belgian villages that have been partially evacuated.
About ten helicopters are participating in the extinguishing work, which is expected to last for several days. The rescue service reports that some progress has been made and the approximately 2,000 people who were evacuated from a village on Friday have been able to return home, according to public service broadcaster WDR.
Things look worse in the border areas around the town of Monschau, where residents of five villages have been warned of a high fire danger.
Many fires
Fires are also raging in several other European countries, from the UK to Greece.
A forest fire has flared up again in southwestern France. The fire, which gained new momentum on Saturday morning in the Landes department, has forced more than 600 residents and holidaymakers near the municipality of Luglon to evacuate, according to local authorities. The fire has been raging since Thursday and has burned 1,500 hectares of forest.
In Serbia, authorities announced late Friday that they are fighting 25 serious forest fires, including one that has destroyed 2,500 hectares of land in a national park near Belgrade.
